The Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, United Kingdom, has sentenced former Nigerian Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to nine years and eight months in prison for organ trafficking.

The court also sentenced his wife, Beatrice Ekweremadu to four years and six months, while the medical doctor, who acted as a ‘middleman’ in the plot, Dr Obinna Obeta was sentenced to 10 years and his medical license also suspended.

A jury had on Thursday, March 23, 2023, pronounced a guilty verdict on Ekweremadu, his wife, Beatrice, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor who acted as the middleman.

The jury held that they conspired to bring the 21-year-old at the centre of the matter to London to exploit him for his kidney.

The verdict is the first of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 of the UK.

The Ekweremadus’ daughter, Sonia, 25, shed tears as she was cleared of the same charge after jurors deliberated for nearly 14 hours.

In Britain, it is legal to donate a kidney, but not for financial or material reward.

It was the first time organ harvesting conspiracy charges had been brought under the UK’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act. The maximum sentence under the legislation is life imprisonment.

Detective Inspector Esther Richardson, from the Metropolitan Police’s Modern Slavery and Exploitation Command, called it a “landmark conviction” and thanked the victim for his “bravery” in coming forward.

During the weeks-long trial, the 21-year-old victim from Lagos, who cannot be named for legal reasons, testified that the Ekweremadus had flown him to Britain to harvest his kidney.

The kidney was said to be intended for Sonia, who remains on dialysis with a renal condition, in return for up to £7,000 ($8,800).

The man said he had been recruited by a doctor working for the politician, and had thought he was coming to the UK to work.

He only realised it was for a kidney transplant when he was taken to London’s Royal Free Hospital last year, the court was told.

He fled and slept on the streets for three days after doctors there told him he would not be a suitable donor following preliminary tests.

Ekweremadu has represented the Enugu West constituency in southeast Nigeria for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party since 2003.

He did not contest recent National Assembly elections as he was in custody before and during the trial.

The trial judge agreed with prosecutors that he could try to flee the UK. His wife and daughter had been out on conditional bail.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Joanne Jakymec said it was a “horrific plot”, accusing the well-connected defendants of showing “utter disregard for the victim’s welfare, health and wellbeing”.

Around 20 people a day in Britain are diagnosed with kidney failure, necessitating prolonged dialysis treatment, and around 7,000 are waiting for a transplant from a suitable donor.

Informed consent is “a vital part of the organ donation programme” and thorough checks are made to ensure “no coercion”, Fiona Loud, policy director at the charity Kidney Care UK, told AFP.

Voluntary donors engage in “an act of great generosity”, she said.

AFP